Villa From A Spurs Fan Perspective

Spursex in the forum came up with an opinion on Villa! (see 100% Villa match thread)

I hope I can add a little perspective here, as reading the last few pages it seems to me a number of you have lost yours.

First off, overall you didn't play badly at all., Houllier is trying to get you to play a different type of flowing mobile passing football and despite what so many seem to think here, it looked to me as if you aren't too far away from being pretty good at it..possession football comes from confidence and it's far harder to build that during a season where you've suffered injuries and had to rely on kids. None the less, all the signs appear to me (despite what so many seem to feel here) that you have the players to put it all together - given the time and chance. No doubt you also need a bit of luck to make it happen, and you're not getting that at the moment.

You are suffering from what we've suffered from for a large part of the season; a defensive 'unit' that's not settled and lacking in confidence. PL teams that do well consistently have a well organised solid back four - you simply don't have that at the moment, but my money is on that correcting itself over the next few games. Mon had you very well drilled at the back, and that seems to have been lost a bit lately.

Who knows what would have happened if Defoe hadn't been harshly red-carded; but what was obvious was that it forced us to play deeper and organise ourselves quickly to play counter-attacking football and to close down the spaces, and you simply didn't have creative guile upfront to break us down the way you should have.

You've bloodied and stuck with what appear to me to be some very good kids, but it also seemed to me that their inexperience showed in a number of ways; when you needed composure and calm heads you didn't have it., they will pick it up now that Petrov and NRC are back, in the same way as I expect those two will now help you pick up the points.

Tactically, I think Harry got our substitutions right whereas I thought that Houllier made a huge mistake, namely putting Pires on the pitch - he just looks a pale shadow of the player he once was, but by putting him on he gave us respite from the pressure as he contributed nothing.

I suspect he will be your managers Achilles heel as he will persevere with him to try and prove a point - but it will be a massive mistake if he does.

Upfront you need a targetman with some craft, guile and movement, both Heskey and Agbonlahor were lacking in this respect. It could just be that Gabby is still not fully fit as in previous seasons I have been hugely impressed with him, but at the moment he just seems to be a static headless chicken that's too easy to defend against, you can read exactly what he's going to do before he even does it himself.

You won't be in a relegation battle, my guess is you'll take 5 points from your next 3 games and confidence will flood back both on and off the pitch. With one possibly two additions in January I think you'll finish the season strongly and on the up.

Albrighton is your ace in the hole, he never stopped trying, even if he was for the large part kept much quieter than I've seen him before his illnesses - he knows how to put a punishing ball in.

I've no reason to paint the result anyway other than I saw it, but as a Spurs fan we've recently been were you are mentally now, I've still got the scars to prove it, but you're closer to being a decent side than most of you seem to think.

Comments

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As I said in the forum - it comes to something when an opposition fan can see what's happening. I respect other fans when they put forward a reasoned debatable argument rather than a WUM. If he can see why can't some fans - but then they have blinkers on and cannot see past their hate/dislike of a manager/player/chairman. I may have hated our last chairman but I never ever gave less than 100% support to the team (however bad) and to whatever manager (however bad). AND I gave them time.

Not gonna argue with that, we did play well and just missing that one upfront which you pointed out we need. Our defense isnt as strong as last season and houllier putting pires over bannan is just baffling to me so fair article.

A very fair assessment and a well thought out article. We are in dire need of a striker with a goalscoring touch and also a left back who knows what position he is supposed to be playing in!!! GH take note and buy accordingly

Well written article and that's one way of putting it if you are a Houllier supporter. Looking at it from another point of view: We have decent players who are all capable of doing a job at this level BUT Houllier is not managing/giving them the right tactics properly. We had a very good defensive unit which conceded 4th least last year (even better if you take out the one Chelsea beating) so it was always in place. Houllier wants to play the game in an idealistic way that he sees in his head that will NOT work in this day and age. Nothing to do with Harry getting the subs right it was all about tactics and giving the players enough confidence and knowhow to win against the opponents on the day.

Whether you think Houllier is the man or not, Villa have 11 games they might be expected to get something from, from now until the end of the season. They need to win 5 and draw five to get forty points and for any margin of error, they also need a surprise result. There will be those who believe that Villa can do that without a sweat and others who think it will be a squeak. Anyone coolly confident?

Id agree with the article except the part about good football, i think you were far too direct with about 2000 crosses into the box reminiscent of your MON days. Think youre missing somebody like a Nasri, Modric or even a Pienaar - hes available in January hed be perfect for you. More creativity is needed.

Good article and i wholeheartedly agree, given time (MON had more than enough) i think GH will mold a decent flowing footballing team that will earn its high league position, not a lucky to be at 6th for 3 seasons team.